Empty Rooms and Crowded Balconys
by turtlechick
Summary: I guess I had gotten used to having the balcony next to mine being empty. That all might have to change when I get a new neighbor who uses it frequently. AU Nejiten One-shot


_So this idea went from a one shot to a short story and then finally back to a one shot.  
It's a little bit different from my other one shots only because Neji comes into the story near the end.  
I still think it's cute. :)  
Hope you like it!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._

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Empty Rooms and Crowded Balconys

By: turtlechick

I stretched my arms and yawned as I sat up in my small twin bed stuffed in the corner of my tiny one bedroom apartment. I threw the covers off as I put on my blue slippers that lay on my scuffed hardwood floor. The floor was always so cold in the morning so thus, the slippers. I went to my closet, only two feet away, and picked out an outfit. Simple yet stylish, a tight teal pale colored t shirt with a pair of jeans and to top it all off, my favorite sneakers.

I jammed a piece of bread in the toaster and pulled down the switch to turn it on. While I waited for my breakfast to cook I turned on my tiny TV and switched it to the news. I have to keep in touch with the rest of the world right? And as usual nothing exciting was happening. As you can probably guess my life is pretty boring. Where I live, where I work and even what I do for fun is boring. The toast popped out of the top of my toaster and scared me as I sat silently at the television. I grabbed it, burning my fingers, and put it on a paper plate.

The only thing halfway interesting about my small apartment is my balcony. It has the best view of the big city I live in. I love to sit out there and people watch, it's one of my favorite pastimes. My mother and I used to go to the park every Thursday, buy a hot dog and sit on a random bench and watch the people as they passed us. To the left of my balcony is another one connected to a room that's been empty ever since I moved into the building three years ago. If I wanted to I could reach out and touch it, that's how close it is.

After I finished my toast I grabbed my coat off the rack and headed out the door. Today was Monday and like every Monday, I had to go to school. I was attending college, trying to get a major in art. I loved to draw, especially people. It's good practice to draw my friends and they love it, even though some of them have trouble sitting still.

I push the '1' button in the elevator and watch as the elevator doors close and leave me alone with the music. My body shifts as the shaft starts to move in the direction of my destination. I usually take the stairs but I was feeling slightly lazy today. The doors open once again and I can see the bright colors of the lobby. Standing at the door is Mr. Sarutobi. He's the owner of the building and the sweetest old man you'll ever meet. He's short with white hair and few moles here and there and he's also got a goatee that matches his stark white hair.

He spots me immediately and a smile graces his lips. "Well good morning Ms. Tenten." He says. He has always made sure that he knows all of the tenant's names and their birthdays; he gives the best birthday presents. He understands everything and is a great person to go to when you've got a problem. He always helped me out when I couldn't always pay my rent.

"Good morning Mr. Sarutobi." I said returning the smile.

"Still having trouble with the drain?" He asks.

"No it's working fine thank you." He was also a bit senile. My drain was broken about two months ago and he's asked me that same question every morning since he sent the repairman up last month. I don't have to the heart to tell him though.

"Ms. Tenten we have a new tenant in the building." He said proudly. He was always happy to get new people in his building. After his grandson Konohamaru left for college last fall he's been lonely ever since.

"You don't say?" I ask wanting a little more explanation.

"Yes he should be moving in very soon and guess what Ms. Tenten?" He said with a cheeky grin.

"What?" I said playing into his game.

"He's moving in right next to you." His nose wrinkled up when he smiled.

"Oh." I had never had a neighbor up there before. I wonder what it is going to be like? "So do you know his name yet?" I asked curious of his answer. I know I wouldn't know who it was but it was good to know your neighbors if I'm not mistaken.

"Yes, it's Neji Hyuuga. I think you'll like him Ms. Tenten." He said cheerfully. "Now you better go miss Tenten or you'll be late." He said practically pushing me out the door. I hailed a cab and waved to him from the street before I slid into the cab. _'Neji Hyuuga huh?'_

l()()()l

After school I worked at a small restaurant, it was so small that if you didn't know where it was you would never be able to find it. We only stayed in business because the food is great and our only customers are regulars who keep coming back. I work there with my best friend Temari. She tons of fun to be around and always keep me laughing with her dry sarcasm. We met at the restaurant actually, wanting the same job. We were initially rivals but when they hired the both of us, we clicked and have been close ever since.

"Tennie you've got table six waiting for three cups of coffee and a lemon scone." Temari said to me as I entered the swinging doors that led to the kitchen and she left them.

"Got it." I grabbed a tray and loaded it with the coffee, lemon scone and followed Temari out the doors to table six. There at the table was Shikamaru, Temari's boyfriend, Kiba and Chouji, Shikamaru's friends. Temari said she never liked to serve Shikamaru because she would get distracted and also didn't like the idea of serving the man that she would have to go home with every night. "Hi guys." I said cheerfully.

"Hey Tenten." The said in unison.

"Three coffees and a lemon scone for Chouji." I handed them their coffee. "So Chouji, why didn't you get your regular?" He normally got a piece of chocolate cake, even this early in the day.

"I'm trying to cut back on the calories." He said taking a bite of his scone while the other hand patted his round stomach. I wonder if he ordered it just because it had a fruit in its name and I also wondered if anyone was going to tell him that scones were just as unhealthy for you.

l()()()l

I was exhausted after work that day and all I wanted to do was go out on my balcony and sketch, it felt like we had twice as many customers today, I guess people were telling their friends. I would always sit out there and draw to make my self relax after a long day. Mr. Sarutobi greeted me as I walked in the doors but today I didn't stay and chat like I usually did.

I kicked off my shoes and immediately grabbed my sketch book and headed for the sliding glass doors that opened to my balcony. I was surprised to see I had a visitor, the balcony next to mine wasn't empty like it had been since I lived here.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know that someone was out here. I'll just go…"

"It's fine." I almost melted when I heard his rich baritone. He was writing something in a notebook, and he didn't lift his head when he spoke to me. All I could do was stand in awe at the complete god in front of me. His long dark brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail and he wore a white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up a three quarters of the way up reveling his muscular arms.

"O-ok." I sat down at my usual spot and soon I was in my special place, sketching random people as they sat down on the bench across the street. I had to be quick when I drew people because I never knew when they were going to get up and leave to go on with their day. It was only if they sat for a while that I truly got to spend time on their portrait. I had always told myself that if I ever met the people I drew, that I would give them what I had drawn. So far it hadn't happened, it was such a big city you never saw anyone that you knew unless you were meeting them somewhere in particular.

"What are you drawing?" His velvet voice startled me and made me mess up the drawing of the little old lady that was now perched on the bench.

"People." He would probably think that I was some weirdo, drawing unsuspecting people across the street.

"I see." He still never lifted his head from that note book and he never lifted his pencil from the page. It got silent again as we both continued, my drawing and his writing. I stole a few glances to see him while he worked. We were only about five feet away from each other, so it was pretty easy. "So you're Neji Hyuuga, right?"

He finally looked up and that's when I saw his gorgeous silver eyes, I almost choked on my own spit. "Yes." He seemed curious as to how I found out his name.

"Mr. Sarutobi told me I was getting a neighbor, and he told me your name." I explained. "My name is Tenten Mitarashi."

"Ah." He went back to his writing and I went back to my drawing.

The suspense was killing me. We had both been sitting on our balcony's for about thirty minutes and but I only been drawing for about half of that. I wonder what he was writing, he seemed to be so into it. I just had to ask. "So what are you writing?" It was only fair that I got ask what he was doing since he already asked me.

He looked up again, I had to brace my self for his eyes. "Poems."

"Wow." Oops, I didn't mean to say that out loud. "Um so are you going to school here?" I was so bad at small talk.

"Yes, I start tomorrow at the art school here." He said.

"Oh I guess I'll see you around then."

"It seems so." He went back to his writing.

I cleared my throat. "So do I get to read one of your poems?" Yeah, he was going to think I was a total weirdo. Normal people just don't ask that. His work his probably personal or something, I had totally crossed the line. I wanted to just slap my self right in the face.

He looked up again, and smirked at me. "Only if I get to see your drawings."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Deal." I got up to hand him my notebook across the railing but he, instead, got up and climbed on the rails of his balcony. He had his notebook in one hand and his other on the wall for support. He stood up and put one foot on my railing and then jumped down right in front of me. I was in shock, that drop was at least forty feet high. " Um, I was just going to hand you my sketch book. You didn't have to that, or better yet you could have just gone through my apartment."

He looked amused. "That way was more fun."

"O-oh." I wasn't sure what to do now. My balcony was so small that every time I moved I risked touching him. He leaned up against my iron railing and handed me his notebook. "Oh." I took it from his hands and replaced it with my sketch book. "I know that they're probably not that good. I'm trying to get better, but…" He just sat, mesmerized my book. He obviously wasn't going to say anything back so I opened up his notebook.

His poems were definitely the best I had ever read. They were so deep, I read a few of my classmate's that had been at school for writing for almost four years and they didn't have anything on Neji's poem. I couldn't stop my self, the next was better than the last I was spellbound by his fluent words and use of verbs, his stuff was, "amazing."

"I could say the same about your portraits. You have a real talent." He gave me back my sketch book and I handed him his notebook. "How long have you been drawing?"

"Um I got into it around my sophomore year of high school. I've been doing it ever since then."

"So do you always draw people?"

I nodded. "Yes, I love to draw my friends." I opened to a sketch I did of Temari. I had caught her in the moment of yelling at Shikamaru, her favorite hobby. He let out a chuckle when he saw it.

"So am I ever going to get one of those done of me?" My face got red, but I quickly regained my composure.

I smiled. "Well how about right now?"

l()()()l

I took my time while I drew him, making sure to get everything perfect. I told him to go back to his writing, and that's how I drew him. We talked, while I drew and he wrote, about nonsense. He asked about Temari and my other friends and I asked him about his family. We were having a good time, and I even made him a laugh a few times.

I made a few more tweaks before saying, "done." Without delay he closed his notebook and sat next to me on the bench crammed on my tiny balcony. I handed my notebook to him and he looked the picture over, for what felt like an eternity. I was anxious to hear what he thought.

He let out a small chuckle. "This is really good." He was looking me straight in the eyes. "Here." He passed me his notebook.

"What?"

"I wrote something, while you drew me. Just look."

"Ok." I said hesitantly. I opened the page he had been writing in and took a look at what he had written. I was shocked to read that the poem was about… me. The poem was phenomenal, you could tell that he had taken a long time on it just like I had on his portrait. Everything flowed well together and was written perfectly. "Neji this is…," I looked up and my eyes locked with his, but before I could finish my sentence, his lips met mine.

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_Sooo how was it?? I was going to write out what Neji did but I'm not too skilled at poetry. lol  
It feels good to get this out of my head.  
Now I can continue with my other stories. :)  
Thanks for reading it. XD_

_Please review and even if you don't check out some of my other stories._

_turtlechick...out_


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